Musical Thoughts & Items of a Writerly Nature

Here’s a neat video.  The audio is kind of terrible, but oh well.  I first heard this tune on a “best of” show for Prairie Home Companion.  So there’s that.  Just a neat little tune.

My friend Lauren, photographer extraordinaire (I have about seven friends I can describe as such) posted a playlist to Facebook last night.  She failed to post a libretto, so I’ll have to invent my own narrative to weave the music together.  So far, it’s pretty fair.  I have a rough time getting into a lot of Indie music because a lot of it seems whiny.  Yeah, I said that.  More importantly (to me) a lot of the people sound like they are not having a good time.

Why are you singing then?

I think I’ve mentioned before that it’s a bit harder for me to find new music since leaving college, anyway.  There’s not that eclectic a mix to pull from in my various areas of living.  Since school I seemed to have moved into smaller and smaller local circles of people capable of delivering the tunage.  This is not to say that I haven’t found some sweet bands the past four years, but not as many as I added to the stable in college.  I just don’t have the time.  Finding new music is exhuasting, especially with all the pictures of funny cats I still haven’t seen.

If ever I find the time, I will work on my libretto/playlist idea.  Perhaps you remember, it was long ago I discussed this type of thing.  An “Moulin Rouge” inspired tale complete with playlist and listening breaks.  Whence shall such an event occur?  I don’t know.

I have created a new blog!  Yes, but not like this blog.  The world has enough of my unique mashup on pop culture with drawings sometimes.  It is a blog about Space Pirates.  Yes, this idea I have been kicking around will see fruition on the web.  As long as it stays fun.  The concept is to write it offline and then publish roughs online.  It could very well be edited before your eyes.  You may read lines one day only to have them wink out of existence the next!  Madness ensues and anything can happen.  Oh yes.  But there is more to be seen on that particular site.

Other Workings This Week:  DEAR Time with Issac Asimov and Neil Gaiman (hero!).  Hopeful posting of a television script, but there is no promise on that.  I am also working on another blog but I don’t know about that whole thing.  It is a secret affair and I only put it here to wet your whistle.

I am thinking on the editing of Addiction once more.  Here is a tale that starts out strong but then fails toward the end to keep up the pace.  I will perhaps post another story from my college days that has never seen the inside of a publishing house.  Same deal.  I get very into finishing stories and then they end up very rushed at the end.  And that’s the truth of the matter.

 

MixTape

Kalin has recently posted about her lack of tunage for her trip to Italy.  Who knows what sort of crazy trends they have going on in Europe?  Maybe they all still listen to Joshie or something.  They could be into auto-techno by now, I don’t know.  But we are all speeding away on our computers compiling playlists for her.  It’s easy!

Kind of.

I have talked on this subject before, the demise of the mixtape.  Mixtapes are ancient technology by now.  They were amazing feats of audiology, bringing love or destruction with them.  The challenge was great when making a mixtape, there was a lot more to worry about.  Generally, one made them on an audio stack with a mix of LPs, cassettes, and CDs – if you were lucky.  You had to judge the audio level on many of these and actually listen to the music as it recorded onto the cassette.  A cassette with Two sides.  It can be frustrating enough to clip the CD to match up close to 70 minutes.  If either side of the cassette was off, you could force your listener to a Hell of blank tape for what may have well been eons.

It was from the depths of the eighties mixtapes became vogue.  Their reign lasted well into the late nineties and are still revered in some cultures.  During this period I made several mixtapes.  They were amazingly fun to make and I felt a great sense of accomplishment when they were finished.

I utilized Microsoft Publisher after the end of each compilation to create a tape case label.  Each tape bore the label “Matt’s Tape.”  Followed by some little name I made up.  What I remember – in order – are “Matt’s Tape,”  “Matt’s Tape II,”  “Matt’s Tape:  With a Vengeance,”  “Matt’s Tape:  Revisited,” and “Matt’s Tape:  Protest Contest.”  Each label contained it’s own individually selected clip art.  I’m fairly certain each of these contained several REM and Bob Dylan songs and would no doubt embarress me in public should I be forced to listen to them.  In private though, I would probably rock out.

Those days are gone now and I’m onto the CDs.  Of course, we don’t even need hard copies at all.  Thanks to the power of our electronic world, all anyone really needs to do is post a playlist and allow others to listen to it.  It kind of recreates the “album.”

It’s like everyone can create their own personal “Moulin Rouge” complete with playlist and libretto.  Why aren’t more people doing this?  What a way to write a tale.

“And then Bill looks with lust as Jesse and Veronica walk away.  He looks at the floor and his voice rises in mournful tones, a cover of ‘Jesse’s Girl’ in a minor key.”

Far Out.

Right now, I’m building a playlist to remind Kalin of Summer Camp, which is easy.  The hard part is that I’m sure several people are doing the same, so there will be same song problems with people’s CDs.  BUT we all know that, so we will be trying to throw curveballs at her.  Which will backfire incredibly, I’m sure.

Man, I would love to see the blogosphere erupt into playlist musicals.  What a fun thing that would be to read.  Maybe it’s already been done and I’m on the back row of another trend.  But I stumble a lot, so I don’t know if that would have happened.

In other musical thoughts, has anyone heard the new Fountains of Wayne album?  Is it any good?  I loved Welcome Insterstate Managers.  FOW is a band that knows how to make an album.  Anyone who knows me knows I like albums as opposed to singles surrounded by filler.

That’s another beauty of playlists.  People can take all those one-hits and compile sweet albums with similar themes based upon them.  It’s challenging though, because you don’t want some $5 greatest love songs disc you would find by the binful at the gas station.

That’s all I’ve got.  I need to make a CD.